Last month Sienna and Savannah Miller parted ways with the label they started with Pepe Jeans in 2007. Coincidentally, that was a year that saw the launch of several celebrity lines: Sarah Jessica Parker s now defunct budget line, Bitten; Kate Moss for Topshop; DVB, the denim and sunglasses label that preceded Victoria Beckham s très chic dresses; and un-celebrity label The Row.
The Miller sisters never won serious fashion adulation like Moss, the Olsens, or, later, Beckham, save the sparky prospect of seeing Jude Law at a show, but their label did survive. Still, even as Sienna s role waned in recent seasons, and Savannah turned the brand into a contemporary business with solid footing, it would seem that the Millers themselves remained the hook.
Of course, that doesn t mean that Twenty8Twelve can t survive and thrive without them. It might just do both. At today s presentation Pepe Jeans managing director Nish Soneji was on hand to assure people that it would. He reported increased sales, and plans to add stores in New York, Paris, and a few cities in China.
New creative director Elsa Elphick, who had worked with the Millers since the launch, was similarly optimistic. She had reason to be. There was something a bit meatier to these clothes, inspired by the sixties-era mockumentary Primitive London and Pop artist Allen Jones, among other things. A pink micro-bouclé shift had a peplum that zipped all the way off, and a pair of cool seamed skinny trousers in the same material wore like neoprene leggings. Collarless V-neck jackets were well tailored and not so basic, and a knit waffle-weave skater dress with a gold zip up the back seemed like the kind of thing you might find at Carven. In all, it was direction with promise. One suggestion: Lose the baby dolls. Sienna has left the building.
